Word counter
Count words, characters, sentences, paragraphs, and reading time as you type. Get a Flesch reading-ease score, top words, and a US grade-level rating in real time.
How the word counter works
Type or paste your text into the box above. The counts update as you type, with no button to press. Everything happens in your browser, so the text you paste never leaves your device. If you need to share the stats with someone, use the share link button — the text is encoded into the URL so the link recipient sees the same view you do.
A word is any continuous run of letters, numbers, apostrophes, or hyphens. So don’t counts as one word, and so does self-aware. This matches the way Microsoft Word and Google Docs count. Sentences are detected by looking for a period, question mark, or exclamation point followed by whitespace and a capital letter, which works well for prose and slightly under-counts text that uses ellipses or rhetorical questions.
Reading-time and speaking-time estimates
The reading time uses 238 words per minute, which is the average for adults reading comfortably for comprehension. Speaking time uses 130 words per minute, which is the standard for clear public speaking — closer to a TED talk than a casual conversation. If you are writing a presentation, the speaking time tells you how long you will be on stage. If you are writing an article, the reading time matches what readers will see at the top of platforms like Medium.
Reading-ease and grade level
The Flesch reading-ease score sits on a 0-100 scale. Higher numbers are easier. A score of 60-70 reads like a clear newspaper article. Below 30 reads like a research paper. The grade level is the US school grade that should be able to read your text comfortably. Newspaper style guides target grade 8-10. Academic writing typically lands between grade 14 and grade 18 — college level and above.
We compute five scores: Flesch reading-ease, Flesch-Kincaid grade level, Gunning Fog, SMOG index, and Coleman-Liau index. The first three rely on syllable counts, which are estimated using a vowel-group heuristic. The last two are letter-based, so they hold up better with technical jargon and acronyms. If three of the five scores agree on a grade level, that’s the best estimate of your text’s difficulty.
Add the Word counter to your blog or library guide
Free, no signup. Drop the iframe into any Squarespace, WordPress, Notion, or Springshare LibGuide page in seconds. Your readers count text without leaving your site.
<iframe
src="https://phrasit.com/embed/word-counter"
width="100%"
height="520"
style="border:0;border-radius:12px"
title="Word counter by Phrasit"
loading="lazy">
</iframe>Need a different size? Adjust height to 360 (compact) or 720 (full).
Frequently asked questions
- How does the word counter count words?
- We treat any continuous run of letters, numbers, apostrophes, or hyphens as a single word. So 'don't' and 'self-aware' each count as one word, matching the convention used by Microsoft Word and Google Docs.
- Is my text uploaded anywhere?
- No. All counting happens in your browser. The text never touches our servers, and we don't store it. You can verify this in your browser's network tab.
- Why is my count slightly different from Microsoft Word?
- Word splits on whitespace, which produces near-identical results for most prose. Differences usually come from hyphenated words, em-dashes glued to surrounding words, or special punctuation. For a 1,000-word essay you should see fewer than 5 words of variance.
- What does Flesch reading-ease mean?
- Flesch reading-ease scores how easy the text is to read on a 0-100 scale. Higher is easier. A score of 60-70 reads like a clear newspaper article. Below 30 reads like an academic paper.
- Can I embed the word counter on my own site?
- Yes. Scroll to the Embed section below and paste the iframe snippet anywhere you can write HTML. It auto-resizes and stays free forever.